This invention relates to a method for the manufacture of ketones by the oxidation of an olefin, and more particularly to a method for efficient manufacture of a ketone by the oxidation of an n-olefin of at least four carbon atoms.
The so-called Hoechst-Wacker process which produces a carbonyl compound by the oxidation of an olefin in the presence of a palladium compound, a copper compound, a halogen and water has been known for a long time. By this process, acetaldehyde is produced from ethylene and acetone from propylene respectively on a commercial scale--see Angew. Chem. 71, 176 (1959); Hydrocarbon Process and Petroleum Refiner, 42 (7) 149 (1963) and Hydrocarbon Processing, March 1976, page 97.
For the manufacture of a ketone from a higher olefin of at least four carbon atoms, no process has yet been brought to practical application because (1) the reaction velocity is low, particularly for the internal olefin as compared with the terminal olefin, (2) the reaction entails occurrence of such secondary products as aldehyde and chlorinated ketone, and (3) the corrosion of the reaction apparatus by hydrogen chloride is violent.
A number of attempts have been made to date with a view to eliminating some of the problems which are involved in the process for the manufacture of a ketone from a higher olefin.
For example, a method for producing methylethyl ketone with improved yield and selectivity by effecting the oxidation of n-butene, preferably 2-butene, in the presence of an aqueous solution of palladium compound and ferric sulfate (Japanese Patent Publication Nos. 2010/1971 and 21975/1972 and Japanese Patent Publication No. 15811/1972 equivalent to GB No. 1,259,145), a method for producing methyl ketone in improved yield by effecting the oxidation of a higher terminal olefin in the presence of a solvent comprising an oxygen-containing compound such as alcohol, polyol, sulfolan, or dimethyl formamide [Journal of Organic Chemistry, 29, 241 (1964); ibid., 34, 3949 (1969); and ibid., 39, 3276 (1974)], and a method which effects the oxidation at a low temperature in the presence of a surface active agent to improve the selectivity of the conversion to the ketone aimed at (Japanese Patent Application Disclosure No. 16419/1979 equivalent to U.S. Pat. No. 4,152,354; see also U.S. Pat. No. 4,203,927) have been known to the art.
Even by these known methods, however, the aforementioned problems have not yet been thoroughly eliminated.
A method for increasing the rate of the carbonylation reaction by the incorporation of an amine or a hydrogen halogenide salt thereof into a catalyst formed of a palladium compound and copper salt (Japanese Patent Publication No. 21402/1968) is also known to the art.
Although this method resorts to use of a tertiary amine such as trimethylamine, triethylamine, or other trialkylamine, or triethanolamine, the effect obtainable by the use of such a tertiary amine is not significant.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,370,073 discloses the oxidation of olefins, preferably alpha-olefins, in the presence of palladium chloride, copper chloride, water and a solvent of certain solubilizing properties and certain dielectric strength such as methanol, dimethylformamide and dimethylacetamide but only when the olefins have at least six carbon atoms per molecule; see also U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,365,499 and 3,932,521.